An Election of Death
by cherryzone1211
Summary: For the first Quarter Quell and the 25th Annual Hunger Games, districts must choose the tributes that will participate in the Games. These games are viewed by the eyes of twelve year old Lena Levesque, a former District Two resident who was reaped as a tribute of District Twelve, her new home. Will she come back home as the youngest victor ever, or in a box?
1. Chapter 1- The Move

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. The only things I own are the characters that are made up by me! **

Chapter 1

"Lena!" I was hanging out with my friends Honey and Amaryllis when I heard my father call for me. That was unusual. As a Peacekeeper, my father was always training and guarding the district's boundaries, or whatever peacekeeping duties he had for a certain day. I would only see him in the early mornings and late at night, occasionally eating lunch with him. Seeing him right after school was new. Still, I couldn't possibly ignore his calls. He was my dad after all.

Muttering an apology to my friends, I ran to my dad. He was still in his white uniform. I wondered what got him out of work so early. Looking up at him, I saw that he had his Peacekeeping face still on him. It was that look that told me and my older sister Sara when to follow his orders immediately. That look was when he was ordered to do something and he was determined to do it. It was a very, very serious look. I hated it.

"Go into the house and get your mother and sister." He ordered."Pack all your belongings. We're moving." I stared up in shock. The twelve years I've been living, I never considered the possibility of moving. District Two was the only home I ever had, and I always assumed that it would stay that way.

"Why?" I asked. This was my first time questioning him when he had his serious face on, but I still couldn't believe. District Two was one of the Capitol's most favored districts, and we were leaving?

"We have been ordered to move to District Twelve. Their supply of Peacekeepers are low so I will take the place as the Head Peacekeeper there. Two others that have trained with me are going. Now hurry and move your feet. Get packing!" District Twelve? That district was one of the poorest in Panem. That made me even more reluctant to move.

Seeing my hesitation, my dad slapped me on both cheeks, hard.

"GO" he ordered. I ran, my face red and covered by tears. When I reached our big two story house, I flung open the door, and kept running. It was my mother that stopped me from dashing through the kitchen. Seeing me face, she looked at me in dismay.

"What's wrong, Lena? What happened? Are you hurt?" She kept fretting while I struggled to get the words out.

"We're moving to District Twelve." I sobbed. "Right now." My mother looked sad, but not that surprised. She sighed.

"I knew the day would come when your father would be ordered to move to another district. Don't worry Lena, its part of his job. He has to follow his orders. Come on, let's pack our bags." I followed my mother upstairs. I couldn't believe she took the news so easily. Didn't she love our home? Did she not care about her friends here? _My_ friends? I started to tear up again as I thought about Honey and Amaryllis. They won't be in District Twelve with me. Who would I be with now?

We came into my room. My mother started opening my drawers and closet, carefully folding each garment of clothing and then stacking it in my orange suitcase. I just sat on my bed, tracing the soft silk on my bed. I looked around, drinking in every little detail, every little thing, so I can remember. I would never forget.

Sara came in, asking what was going on. After a few short words from my mother, she too left and started packing. After a long hour later, my mother, Sara, and I were finished with all our clothes, including our father's. Then we began packing our belongings like photos, blankets, bags, purses, and such. Some things we had to leave behind, like our beds and couches. There would be new ones in our house in District Twelve.

My father came in later and carried our suitcases onto the train. Just before we left, I saw Honey, Amaryllis, and Lucy running towards us. Honey and Amaryllis were both crying, saying goodbye. Lucy and Sara were having last minute words, what they were about I didn't know. Sixteen year olds were always talking about stuff I didn't know about, so I didn't bother to try and listen.

A few minutes later, Sara and my mother boarded the train. I turned to leave too.

"Wait!" Honey's cry made me spin back around. She put something in my hand. "So you can remember us." She whispered. She ran off, without saying another word, and I finally stepped on the train. It wasn't until a few minutes later that I opened my hand and looked. Honey gave me a bracelet. It was silver, with three ruby cherries in the middle. Three cherries-Me, Honey, and Amaryllis. Connected by a tree. We will always be connected, no matter where we were.


	2. Chapter 2- The Quarter Quell

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games. They belong to Suzanne Collins. If I did own it, the Prim and Finnick won't be dead! **

**A reply to a review who I couldn't reach by PM:**

"**Not Telling"- Yes I know Hazel in the Gods of Olympus has a last name of Levesque but that's not where I got it from or why I used that last name.**

Chapter 2

I sat on my new bed, in my new room, staring out through my new glass window, looking at District Twelve, my new home. New, New, New. I liked new things. Every time my mother got me new clothes, shoes, weapons, and such, I was always happy. I would thank her and then rush into my room to check it out. This was not the same.

This time, everything was new. And I absolutely did not like it. Everything I had in District Two was like treasure compared to this…this junk. This place was a piece of junk. School at my old home was fine. I had good friends and teachers, and a fine education. In this district, the school was terrible. The poorer students attending the school always smelled like garbage and sewers. The kids that had parents as bakers or miners were better, but not by much. The teachers went over the jobs of each district, and the war against the Capitol that ended more than twenty five years ago. I learned all of this when I was eight, and they called this an education?

Thinking all these thoughts, I kicked my new dresser with my foot. I hated it so much, I didn't even notice the pain in my foot after the impact. I was so mad. How can my father do this to me? He was a peacekeeper; didn't he have any power to stop the move? _No, _I thought, _A peacekeeper can only control the citizens in the districts, not the Capitol._

I got up from my bed. My father punished me several times for sulking in my room when I could be doing something useful. I did not want him mad at me again, no matter how much I thought we should have never moved. So I did the only thing I could think of, the only thing he actually approved of.

I slowly walked down the stairs to the first floor. Our new house was a two-story house, one of the biggest in the district. Counting the bottom basement, we had three floors. And that was where I was going now.

I opened the door that led to the basement. After I walked down another set of staircases, I arrived at the bottom. I snatched my training jacket and a pair of black fingerless gloves and quickly put them on.

Because the lower districts were poor and did not have a newly made training center, my father insisted we make one of our own. Back in District Two, he wanted us to train hard and volunteer for the Games at age eighteen, even though my mother strongly disagreed. She did not want her children to become killers like the Careers from our old district. The only reason she actually let us train in the basement was so we can defend ourselves if we get reaped. In District Two, if you were reaped then the possibility of someone volunteering for you was huge. In District Twelve? Not so much. Ever since we moved, the chances of us getting in the Games increased. My father finally convinced my mother to let us continue the training we had in District Two, though she hated it.

I walked over to the weapons section of the room. There were ten dummies (replaced every day) waiting to be destroyed by me. I picked up my silver throwing knives that I had with me every since I started training when I was six. I fingered them, preparing to throw.

I threw my first knife toward the dummy at the end, hitting it in the heart. The next four dummies fell a second later as more knives filled the air. Two of the dummies on the sides got a knife through their heads. Now there were only three more left.

I took a deep breath. My trainer in District Two recently taught me a new move where I throw three knives at once, hitting three different people. It was actually pretty hard. I learned to throw two knives at once a year ago, but three was pushing it.

I took another deep breath. I practiced this move every day, and not once has every knife met the heart. Yesterday I got close; two knives to the heart and one slightly two the right. I hoped I could finally get it right today.

I got into throwing position and swung my arm, letting go of the three knives I had left to the three dummies left in the middle. I closed my eyes as I heard the impact of each knife hit a dummy. I dared myself to open my eyes. All three were centimeters from the heart. But it was not perfect. Again.

I stomped my foot in frustration. When will I finally get it right? The throwing knives were the first thing I found myself good at when I started training. It was definitely my weapon of choice. If I couldn't even perfect the knives, what can I do?

I moved on to where the bow and arrows were. I picked up my favorite one. It was a light silver bow with a smooth handle in the middle. It even had a matching silver quiver that went with it. Next to the knives, archery was my best skill.

I pushed the red button on the wall close by. Instead of dummies as targets, I used small fake metal birds with glowing blue flying around, connected by a wire on the wall. My mother invented it. She was somewhat of a genius with electronics and gadgets, which was surprising because she came from District Two. The birds were connected to the wires that moved along the wall. My mother even got the small robotic birds to flap their wings, even though it was actually the ire that moved it. All this was turned on by pressing the red button.

I pulled back the string on the bow and let go of the blue feathered arrow I had picked up from the quiver. It hit one of the birds in the wing, but it just bounced off the metal on the bird. I groaned. If an arrow hit a bird anywhere except for the eye, it just bounced back. If an arrow hit the eye, it would sink in and turn off the glowing eyes on the bird. My goal was to have every bird have an arrow sticking out of their eye. Unfortunately, it was easier said than done. Because I wasn't the best at archery, it would hit the bird but not in the eye. It took me an hour to finish off twenty birds. After the hour, I was sweating like crazy. I definitely needed a rest. As I sat down on a bench, I heard someone say, "Nice job with the birds, sis." It was Sara.

I smiled when I saw her come in. I loved my older sister very much, but she wasn't cut out to be in the Games, or train for that matter. She was more like the type who did housecleaning chores and design dresses. The only thing she was actually good at in training was plants and healing. She can't throw a knife or stab an enemy, but she was still amazing. Give her two plants and she'll tell you exactly what it is. Lead her to a wounded person and she can use her various knowledge about healing to fix that person up. She can tell what plants and fruits are poisonous or not, and what herbs can help with different wounds and sicknesses. Sara was also the number one person to go to if you have a problem, because she also gave some excellent advice. I was lucky to have her as my sister.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her. Because she was horrible with weapons and already knew everything about plants, there weren't much days when she came down to the basement.

"Mother wants you in the living room right now." She answered as she pressed the red button to stop the moving wires. I always forgot to turn it off.

"Why? Is there something she needs help with?" I asked curiously. Sara looked uncomfortable.

"Actually, President Dunstan is on TV. He's announcing something about this year's Hunger Games." She said as she motioned for me to follow her up the stairs.

"Why?" I asked. "The Games don't start until a few months later. Isn't this a bit early?"

"I don't know." Sara shrugged. "Let's just watch and find out."

When we got to the living room, my mother, and surprisingly my father were waiting on our big green couch. Maybe he was allowed to take a break from his job as Head Peacekeeper because everyone went home to watch the news. I sat down next to my father as the screen came to life.

I watched as Eddie Melonheim, the speaker and announcer for the Games walks up onto the stage. His usual green hair is curled, and he has a very clean white suit on. He sits down on a white chair as he greets everyone with his loud speaking voice. "Welcome to the 25th Annual Hunger Games, ladies and gentlemen! I know it is unusual to announce pretty early, but we have some news to share with you! Please welcome President Argentum Dunstan, who will share the news with you tonight!" I kept watching as Eddie Melonheim stood up from his chair and walked off stage as another man took his place. I wondered why Eddie even bothered to sit down on a chair if he was going to stand back up a couple seconds later. Capitol citizens were just plain weird.

The man known as President Dunstan walked up and stood in the middle of the stage. He was pretty old, probably somewhere around his late sixties or early seventies. He had short white hair that was carefully combed so it wouldn't stick out everywhere. He was also pretty short for a man, shorter than my father actually. If you saw him out on the streets in District Twelve, you would've thought he was one of those old grandpas who lived on the streets, despite how clean he looked.

"Good morning, Panem." President Dunstan announced in his quiet but firm, serious voice. "Today I have some news to share with the citizens of the Capitol and of the Districts. Every twenty five years, I have decided there will be something special about each Games. There are many cards stating what will happen each twenty five years, also called Quarter Quells. The 1st Quarter Quell is here, so I will begin the reading of the card today."

I heard many excited murmurs in the crowd of Capitol Citizens in the audience. Of course they will be excited. They didn't have to worry about being killed. This was just part of their stupid entertainment.

I saw a little boy about eight nervously holding a box to President Dunstan. President Dunstan opened the box and took out an envelope clearly marked 25 in black ink. My whole family held their breaths as he slowly unfolded the paper inside.

"For the 25th Hunger Games, also known as the 1st Quarter Quell, the citizens of each district will vote on the boy and girl tribute that will represent them." I hated the silence that followed as the words sank in. Then suddenly, I heard Sara let out a sob. At first I didn't get it. So what if the citizens choose? Then realization hit me. I remembered the hatred and jealousy that was aimed at me at school every day since I moved in. How they looked at me clean and well fed and educated, while they had no money or food. That time I overheard the families of two students in my class talking about the "bloodthirsty Careers of District Two right in our district." No one in the district liked me because of where I was from. They got it all wrong. I wasn't a Career no matter how much I was trained. I would never kill for fun. But it didn't matter. All the families will vote for either me or Sara. One of us were going into the arena for the 1st Quarter Quell.


	3. Chapter 3- Confirmation

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games!**

**My thanks to richards25 who reviewed this story!**

**I really do need reviews because I have no idea if I'm doing good or not!**

Chapter 3

Ever since the announcement two months ago, I've been thinking about the Games. Even in my dreams, I think about the death and blood. Nightmares haunt me as soon as I close my eyes. Which is ridiculous, because I wasn't even chosen yet. But I know who will get picked. I know it will be me. It has to be. The only hope our family has is for me to enter the games and emerge as the victor. My sister Sara is strong, but she has less chance than me. I tried to teach her how to throw a knife years ago, and she still can't hit a target. She might be good with plants, but that will be useless against the Careers of the upper districts.

So I've been working behind her back. My whole family's back. They have no idea what I've been doing. I don't like it myself. But it had to be done.

Even I know that District Twelve is not totally heartless. No one wants a twelve year old to die. They will most likely pick Sara. So I tried to change that. I followed other students in my class home, and then I threatened them to vote for me. Most are too scared to do otherwise.

Sara doesn't know. My mother doesn't know. My father the Peacekeeper has no idea. But I will do anything to save Sara, even if I'm the younger sibling. I will go to the Capitol and win the Games. The chances are slim, but I've been practicing twice as hard, learning more about survival skills and trying out new weapons such as spears and tridents.

Right now though, I was on my way to the illegal marketplace the citizens called the Hob. There were tons of people who sold and bought stuff every day. I was going to pay a visit to everyone who was willing to listen, which was probably a very small amount of people.

The first person I met was a middle aged woman with one leg. She was called Fayez. Even though she sold beer and morphling, she never drank herself. I stopped in front of her stand. She looked at me with those gray eyes everyone in the Seam had.

"This stuff is too strong for you girl. If you want to drink, wait ten more years." She looked at me with distaste and turned her back on me, talking to a drunken man who just came by.

After the man left, I tapped Fayez's shoulder.

"Excuse me. I was just wondering if you voted for the tributes of District Twelve yet." I said, smiling sweetly. It was very straightforward and to the point because I didn't have much time.

Fayez smirked at me as she turned around. "Why, sweet girl? Scared you'll be chosen?" I gritted my teeth. I changed from sweet to aggressive immediately.

"Look here, Fayez. I didn't come to this place just to buy a drink and I have a chat. I mean business. If you didn't vote yet, choose Lena Levesque. That's me. Again, that's Lena Levesque." Just to prove I wasn't kidding, I pushed her small shelf of empty bottles to the floor. They fell and smashed to the floor, breaking into little glass shards. I learned over the weeks that if you infuriate them, they will be angry and gladly nominate you for the Games. However, it didn't seem to affect Fayez. She just smiled widely. I think she was insane.

"Girl, you are a feisty one! If I remember correctly, you are the new Head Peacekeeper's daughter. Am I right?" She asked.

"Just vote for me, okay?" I said feeling exasperate.

"I'll vote for you alright! You just earned a sponsor!" She grinned crazily and turned to pick up the glass shards on the floor. Yup, she was definitely insane.

By the end of the day, I convinced three more people to vote for me. It was hard work talking to the people at the Hob, and it was not enough. The four people I managed to persuade today and the twenty six families I threatened were not enough. I just had to hope the rest would vote for me, because next week was the Reaping, the Election of Death.

**So sorry for the short chapter! I promise the next one will be longer than this!**


	4. Chapter 4- The Reaping

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games! They belong to the one and only Suzanne Collins! **

Chapter 4

I waited and watched as Sara tried to pick a nice outfit for me for the Reaping today. She was already dressed in a sleeveless emerald green dress with lighter streaks of blue on the sides. The dress went all the way down to her feet, so it was pretty long. Her blonde hair was in a waterfall braid. If I wasn't her sister, I would've said she was the most beautiful girl I've ever met.

I was a totally different story. I was still wearing my training jacket and jeans from this morning. My light brown hair was tangled. Sara was still rummaging through my closet and drawers for a dress that I could wear. She actually already found three, but I refused to wear them. Dresses were horrible! They were so uncomfortable, and you couldn't even run in them. Why we had to look nice for the Reaping was beyond me. Reaping Day was like a possible death sentence for everyone. And you have to look nice for it? The Capitol made the most bizarre rules in the world.

"Lena, I think you will have to wear one of my old dresses." Sara finally said. I groaned. All of Sara's dresses were shiny, silky, and long. In other words, it was pure torture.

"Come on Lena! Stop being a baby! It's your first Reaping and you need to start wearing real dresses instead of those little skirts you used to wear. Get up. Let's go to my room." Sara literally had to drag me out of my room into hers. She opened her drawer of old clothes and pulled out a silver blue dress. She clapped her hands in delight.

"This will fit you perfectly!" She held out the dress and I looked at it in disdain. Finally, I reached out and grabbed it. I quickly changed into the dress. I already felt like I was going to die from discomfort. I was about to go back to my room but Sara pulled me back as she held up a comb.

"Your hair." That was all she said before she started tugging at my hair with the comb, trying to brush it into neat strands. It didn't work. I spent the next five minutes screaming as Sara undid the tangles in my hair. The result was some smooth locks of long brown hair. I admit I liked my hair better like this, but I sure did suffer a lot of pain for it.

I restlessly waited another minute while my older sister skillfully put my hair into a simple braid. When the rubber band was tied into place, I jumped up and ran out. Or at least I tried to. I just tripped over my own dress and received a scolding from Sara about almost ruining the dress and my hair. I couldn't have cared less. I just wanted this Reaping over with.

Instead of running, I walked with Sara to the main square where the temporary stage is set up for the Reaping. When we got there, I watched as Peacekeepers took other children's blood. I stood still when it was my turn. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. It was just taking a drop, and when I was done, Sara led me over to the back where the youngest girls were. She then went to the front where the other sixteen year old girls were and stood still, staring straight at the Justice Building.

I looked around. The girls around me didn't look very scared. They almost seemed bored, which was probably very unusual for District Twelve. Of course, I knew it was because they were confident that they won't get chosen. They knew it would be either me or Sara.

The boys, on the other hand, looked terrified. When I looked over to where the boys were standing, all of them looked nervous. I saw one twelve year old boy crying, even though he probably won't get chosen. Others were taking small steps back and forth or nervously messing around with their hands.

I turned my attention to the stage as Mayor Donner stepped up. He was a tall, lanky man with long arms and legs. I listened as he talked about the Dark Days a few decades ago when the rebellion began and ended. I shifted my feet. I heard this before plenty of times in school and in the Reapings in District Two when I was in the crowd watching. In my old District, they called out the names of the previous victors of our district, but here they only had one. His name was Betel Cockrich, and he was the mentor of this district. When I took a good look at him, he seemed pretty young, but I could tell he's been drinking recently from the unsteady steps and dull eyes he showed on the stage. It didn't look good that the only victor of District Twelve was drunk. Mayor Donner must have been pretty embarrassed by this too, because he quickly called on Ailsa Maddox onto the stage. Ailsa was the District's escort, and like all other Capitol born citizens, she looked ridiculous. Her pale cheeks, bright hot pink wig, very puffy polka dotted dress, and blue painted fingernails made her look like a freak. Nevertheless, she didn't seem to notice the stares and barely suppressed giggles as she walked in her high heels.

"Welcome to the District Twelve Reaping for the 1st Quarter Quell! How exciting this must be for each and every one of you!" She said in her shrill high voice and smiled widely. "Now I will present you the lucky boy and girl tribute for this year's Annual Hunger Games."

She opened an envelope marked _Girl _and slowly unfolded the paper inside. She paused dramatically before announcing the name. _Please let it be me. _I begged in my head.

"The lucky girl for this year's Games is…Lena Levesque!" I sighed in relief as they called my name. I walked toward the stage as calmly as I can, trying to avoid looking at Sara. Judging by the surprise and horror on her expression, she clearly thought she was going to be picked.

When I was in front of everyone, Ailsa grinned widely and shook my hand.

"So great to have a twelve year old participating! I did not see that coming! And now for the boys!"

I waited as Ailsa opened the envelope containing the name of the boy tribute for District Twelve. There was a look of surprise on her face as she read aloud. "Thomas Donner!" I gasped. I watched as I saw the mayor's own sixteen year old son come up to the stage. There were some looks of surprise in the crowd, but most just nodded like it was for the best. I couldn't believe the people had the nerve to vote on Mayor Donner's son, but no one was safe from death. I could also tell why they picked him. Besides us, Thomas's family was the richest in the district. He probably did not have to sign up for tesserae while others did.

The mayor looked like he was about to cry in front of the whole district, but composed himself until Ailsa closed the ceremony with a goodbye.

"That's the tributes for this year's Hunger Games! Please applaud loudly for Lena Levesque and Thomas Donner!" Only half the crowd applauded, and even those claps were very soft, as if they regretted it.

Two Peacekeepers led us into separate rooms where we were supposed to have our last goodbyes. A second after I sat down, Sara and my mother burst into the room. Both were sobbing uncontrollably.

"I'm so sorry, Lena!" Sara choked out between sobs. "I was so sure they would all vote for me, but…" she trailed off, saying no more. I decided not to tell her about how I convinced others to vote for me. I was trying to keep my own tears from flowing. I had little chance against the Careers because of my disadvantage of being small and weaker than the others, so I might never see my family again.

"Lena," my mother said. "I know you've been training hard during the last few months. Make it count, and come back to us." That's all she said before my father walked in. He had a gleam in his eyes, and I knew he was proud of me for going into the Games. He had always wanted me to participate. I felt like he didn't care about me, he just wanted glory brought to our family if I won.

"Make me proud. Kill with no mercy, and come back. Shower us with gold, fame, and riches." He whispered in my ear. Then, he was out of the room. Gone.

Sara and my mother kept crying until one of the Peacekeepers came to take them out. Soon, I was also taken out to board a train. I didn't care that I was still in an uncomfortable dress, or that my hair was too tight. This was too much like my last day in District Two, when I was whisked in a train to go to an unwanted place. I was in that same situation again, with no one except for three complete strangers: Thomas, Ailsa, and Betel. Ailsa led me to my temporary room on the train while Thomas followed Betel to his own room. As soon as I was inside, Ailsa closed the door behind me saying, "I'll come back for you in an hour for dinner."

Left to my own disposal, I looked around the room. Even though my rooms in Districts Two and Twelve were big and comfortable, this was even better. The bed here was big enough to for my whole family. There were twice as much clothes in one drawer than in my old room and Sara's room combined. Using all my willpower, I tore my eyes off the beautiful golden lamp next to my bed and opened one of the drawers. I took out a pair of skinny jeans, a light blue tank top, a green hooded jacket, and some undergarments. Then I went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

Unfortunately, my plan for a short shower failed completely. I was mesmerized by all the buttons. At first I was careful about which button to press because I had no idea what it did, but then I just decided to press random buttons all at the same time. First a warm spray of water came out, but then it was quickly replaced by a cold sprinkler. At first the sprays of water were coming out very slowly, but after a push of a button they came at me so fast and sharp it stung. It took me awhile to find the right button to make it soft again, and by that time by whole body was red. I turned the shower off and stepped out. After that, I quickly changed into the new clothes I picked and carelessly threw my old ones on the floor. That was when I saw the bronze alarm clock on my drawer. I gaped as I saw the time. I was in the shower for fifty minutes!

I had just processed that in my head when Ailsa flung open the door. My hair was still very wet so I went back and dried with a small device I found that did it in a few seconds. When I came back to the door, Ailsa was impatiently tapping her foot with a disapproving look at me.

"You are late for dinner." She scolded me as she led me back to the dining car. Thomas and Betel were already stuffing themselves full with a soup that was apparently really good, and Ailsa joined them. I sat down and inspected it closely. It was a greenish color with some red and silver stuff floating in it. I took a small sip and almost gagged. The taste was so terrible a wave of nausea came over me. I felt like I was going to throw up

"What is this stuff?" I demanded, clutching my stomach. The three faces looked at me in surprise.

"You don't like it?" Ailsa asked. I nodded.

"You have no taste." Thomas declared. I stared at my district partner. It was his first time talking to me, and his first words were _You have no taste?_ I gave him a dirty look to show I didn't care, but he was already spooning some more of that soup so he didn't see. He was such a pig.

"It's green lime soup with red peppers and fish." Betel told me. No wonder it tasted so bad! Lime, peppers, and fish were possibly the worst combination of food ever. Not wanting to be rude, I took a chicken leg and started eating.

"So," Thomas said with his mouth still full. "Where are we going?" Now it was my turn to look surprised. We were going to the Capitol of course! He didn't even know that? Did he think his name was called just to have a feast on a train?

"We're going to the Capitol." Ailsa voiced my thoughts out loud. "Didn't you know that?"

"I may not have any taste, but at least I know what I'm doing." I retorted to Thomas. Betel snorted and laughed when he heard this.

"You're going to the Hunger Games, son. I thought we made that clear every year."

Thomas looked embarrassed. His cheeks were bright red and his thoughts weren't on food anymore.

"I meant where we were going after we arrive in the Capitol." He snapped. "I'm not that stupid, you know."

"You could've fooled me." I muttered so quietly he couldn't hear me.

"Thomas, you can worry about that when we arrive at the Capitol. We still have a day to go. When you're done with your food we'll go and watch the other Reapings. After that you can go to your room and have a nice sleep. How's that for a day?" Betel asked. Thomas just nodded.

After a few minutes Ailsa and Betel led us to another room where we watched the reruns of the Reapings. District One was pretty much the same as any other year: a beautiful girl and a handsome boy, both with weird names named after luxury items. Personally, I didn't think much of District One's tributes. They may have pretty faces, but they were not that deadly. Pretty, but dumb. That's how my dad always described District One. Of course there were some years where they turned out to be deadly killers and actually win, but they only had three victors so far.

I payed special attention to District Two, because that was my old home. I hoped that no one I knew and no one very strong would be reaped. I was confident Amaryllis and Honey would not get picked because they were only twelve like me. I watched as the District Two escort Malory Jenkins came on stage. She said the name of the tribute and a fair brown haired sixteen year old girl stepped up. My heart dropped. I knew that person. It was Sage Wendell, Honey's older sister and Sara's best friend. I immediately zoned out of the TV and nearly cried. How can fate be so cruel? Honey and Sara will both be sad, having to choose between their own sister and best friend. I kept thinking about this horrible arrangement until someone shook my shoulders. It was Betel.

"What are you doing?" he cried. "You are supposed to be watching. You need to know your competition if you want to survive!" I looked at the screen. They were already on District Three.

For the next thirty minutes, I watched all the recaps of the Reapings. Only a few stuck to my mind, like the small twelve year old girl from District Four, the big, muscular dude from District Seven, and the sneaky looking girl from District Nine. Out of all the tributes I was the youngest, not counting the other twelve year old from Four. I wondered how she got chosen. She must have been really hated by her District if she was chosen. I didn't think she looked too bad. She looked nice, trusty, but alone. Maybe I could actually make an alliance with her. Then I remembered that I never got to see the boy tribute from District Two. I asked Betel about him, and he answered, "He's a big, muscular guy with blond hair. He'll be a big problem in the Arena, so watch out."

Ailsa led me back to my room and said good night. Again, I was left alone in this fabulous room. But I was a bit sleepy so I just jumped into huge bed with the clothes still on and slept like I never slept before.


End file.
